In San Francisco, carrying three condoms is probable cause to lock you up for prostitution

Dudes and ladies, straight or gay — If you go out this weekend with three or more condoms in your pocket or purse, there's a chance the San Francisco Police could keep you locked up for up to three days on suspicion of prostitution. This has been the case in the city since the dawn of prophylactics, apparently, but the disappointing update to the ancient policy comes by way of an announcement that the District Attorney and the Public Defender's offices are holding up a policy change while awaiting a review of how it will affect ongoing cases.

Three months ago, SFPD started testing a much more progressive condom stance when Chief Greg Suhr said his department would no longer take photographs of condoms or mention them in police reports, thus allowing the city to use them as evidence that a suspect could be a prostitute. Under the old rules, police could actually accuse anyone of being a sex worker just because they were optimistic enough to be carrying three or more condoms on their person (one for good luck, one in case of accidental breakage and a third, just in case things went well and you feel like sticking around a little longer in the morning). Of course, said person would have to be arrested for something else first, so it's a bit like getting a ticket for not using your seatbelt during a DUI stop.